


Hiraeth

by owlways_and_forever



Series: When Eagles Fall Silent [19]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Homesickness, Learning English, Moving to a new country
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:42:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29268174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlways_and_forever/pseuds/owlways_and_forever
Summary: When Parvati finds out her family is moving to England, she is *not* happy about it. How will she even manage school when she barely knows any English?
Relationships: Lavender Brown & Parvati Patil, Padma Patil & Parvati Patil
Series: When Eagles Fall Silent [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2029726





	Hiraeth

**Author's Note:**

> HSW&W | House: Gryffindor | Magical & Muggle Languages, Task 1 | Prompt: Write about trying to understand a different language | Word Count: 1770
> 
> IPC #109 - [Plot Point] Language Barrier

"I don't want to go, Amma," Parvati whined as she watched her mother pulling clothes and laying them carefully in a trunk. The rest of the family's things had been packed days ago, but Parvati had been stubbornly resisting. She liked their life in Jaipur, and she didn't want to go to England, especially not to go to boarding school.

Parvati picked at the embroidery on her skirt, pulling a thread loose. Honestly, she didn't even know why her mother was insisting on taking all of their clothes with them, it wasn't like she would be wearing traditional Indian dress at Hogwarts.

"Nonsense, it'll be wonderful," her mother replied without stopping her actions. "England will be nice, and you will love Hogwarts. You'll get the best education there."

"I don't care about that!" Parvati snapped, flopping backward onto her bed. "I want to stay here, with my friends, and with Nani. I don't want to leave anyone to go to school, and I don't understand why you and Nani can't teach us like she taught you."

"You should be excited, like your sister," Mrs. Patil chided, rapidly losing patience. She had heard these protestations for the past three months, and she had quite simply reached her limit. She understood all the reasons why Parvati wanted to stay in India - she was anxious about leaving too - but there were things she just didn't know about.

The economy had taken a turn for the worse that year, and there simply weren't enough jobs to go around. Although Sanjaya's job was fairly secure as a Healer, fewer and fewer people could afford to pay for treatment, and that meant he had more free hours than ever. It simply wasn't enough to have one working adult support the family anymore, and there were no opportunities for Sandhya to get her own. So when her cousin had written to her from England and said that St. Mungo's in London was looking for good Healers, Sandhya knew that she had to seize the opportunity. Her cousin helped them with the paperwork and with securing jobs - Sanjaya as a Healer in the Magical Bugs ward, and Sandhya as a nurse in the pediatric department. And now all that remained was for them to board a plane in the morning to their new home.

Parvati continued to pout, but she knew better than to press the issue once her mother had reached her limit. Grumpily, she did the bare minimum she could to help back, consenting at least to choose her own outfit for their trip. She hated when her mother picked out her clothes.

When they boarded the plane in the morning, Parvati stared out of the windows and watched her homeland disappear beneath her. She felt so anxious about her new life, with a new school and a new country. What if people didn't like her? What if they thought she was too weird? She doubted she would be able to find any churma laddoos, and she probably wouldn't even be able to wear her beautiful kurtas. Everything would be foreign, even the language, and she had no idea how she was ever going to get used to any of it.

o . o . o

Parvati stood and looked on absently as the professor spoke. She was speaking quickly, and most of it was going right over Parvati's head, just a mess of unfamiliar noises. Their parents had made them study English, but Padma had always been much better it, and Parvati had shirked her lessons at every opportunity. She simply hadn't understood what the fuss was all about - she had never thought they would leave Jaipur, leave home.

Everything here was so confusing. They had barely been in England two weeks before Parvati and Padma had to leave for Hogwarts. They had said a tearful goodbye to their parents and their little sister before the train had whisked them away. Two other girls had sat in their compartment, completely ignoring the Patil twins and chattering quickly to each other. Parvati hadn't understood any of their conversation, and she could tell that Padma had been overwhelmed too. When the train had stopped, they had followed the flow of students, trying to guess where they were supposed to be. The whole world seemed like a mystery to them.

But now, as they stood in the big room with the teacher giving them stern instructions, Parvati looked at her sister only to find Padma staring with eager eyes. It only made Parvati feel even more lost and isolated. She shuffled along, following the others from room to room. Occasionally, Padma would whisper in her ear and clarify some small detail, but they had little opportunity to talk before they were ushered to the front of a very crowded dining hall. Parvati tried not to feel nervous at all the people who were in front of her, but it didn't help that she had no idea what was going on.

One by one, students were called to the front, and a grimy old hat was placed on their heads. From there, they were sent to one of the four tables. Parvati paid careful attention to where the students went, so when she was given her directions, she would be able to follow them without asking for help. She did not want everyone's first impression of her to be that she was weak or helpless. She could figure things out by herself.

"Patil, Padma!"

Her sister stepped forward, and Parvati sucked in an anxious breath, bouncing on her tiptoes a little as she waited to see her sister's fate. The hat barely sat on her head for a few seconds before it declared her Ravenclaw. Parvati watched as her sister made her way to the table decked out in blue, her long plait swinging across her shoulder as she turned to look back at her sister.

"Patil, Parvati!"

With a deep breath, Parvati stepped forward onto the small dais and sat down on the stool provided. The professor placed the dingy hat on her head, and Parvati immediately felt another consciousness pressing at hers.

"Oh my," a voice said in her mind, and Parvati nearly jumped in surprise.

"Hello?" Parvati thought, wondering if this was supposed to be a conversation.

" _What have we here?_ " the voice asked in heavily English accented Hindi. " _You're a very long way from home._ "

" _Haan_ ," Parvati affirmed, a feeling of homesickness washing over her.

"You're very brave to come all this way," the voice told her, though Parvati didn't feel brave at all. "It will not be easy for you, but I can see that you have all the courage you need to do well here. Good luck, little one. Gryffindor!"

The final word rang out throughout the hall, but as the hat was lifted from her head, Parvati felt a sinking sense of disappointment. She looked wistfully at her sister as she walked towards the table of red and gold. They had never been apart in all their lives, and it seemed unthinkable that they would be separated now, just when Parvati needed her most. As she sat down, Parvati felt like weeping, and she couldn't keep the sullen look from her face.

The girl sitting to her right placed a hand on Parvati's arm, looking at her with concern. She asked a question, but Parvati didn't understand it.

"I'm Lavender," the girl said, and at least that much Parvati could understand.

" _Mera naam hai_ … My name is Parvati," she corrected, reciting the phrase she had so carefully memorized.

"You're from India?" Lavender asked, understanding dawning across her features.

Parvati nodded.

"Do you speak English?" the girl said, although she seemed like she already knew the answer.

"No," Parvati answered. It wasn't completely true, but she didn't know enough English to explain the limitations of her language skills.

"Don't worry, I'll help you," Lavender said with a determined smile, and though Parvati didn't recognize the individual words, she understood the sentiment behind them.

For the first two weeks of school, Parvati struggled very much. But Lavender was amazing. She wrote to her family and asked if they could find some translation aids, and they sent back two auto-translate quills, which would allow Lavender to copy and translate her notes for Parvati, and for Parvati to write her essays in Hindi and turn them in fully translated. It was a very kind gesture, and Parvati was extremely grateful for the help, it truly made all the difference.

It allowed their friendship to blossom too. Lavender began leaving Parvati little messages of encouragement each morning. It was very sweet, and eventually, Parvati started to reciprocate by leaving little notes of good wishes on Lavender's pillow at night. During classes and meals, they would slip each other notes, making each other giggle happily.

None of this really addressed the root of the problem, however. Parvati wasn't really learning any more English, and she couldn't use the quill to translate for her entire life. She really needed to find a way to improve her skills, and fast. Sooner or later, one of the professors was going to expect her answer a question, and she would have to answer them...ideally in English.

Lavender offered to teach her, and the two girls worked together in every minute of their spare time. Parvati felt like her English was improving rapidly. She was still nervous about breaking it out around others - she was sure her heavy accent would make people tease her relentlessly - but she talked to Lavender more and more freely as the weather got colder. Soon, she felt like she could talk to her friend about anything she wanted to.

Parvati was gazing at the Halloween decorations in the corner of the classroom, transfixed by the flickering lights in the eyes of the carved pumpkins. She hadn't seen jack-o-lanterns in person before, and she found the sight of them quite eerie.

"Miss Patil?"

Parvati looked around quickly to find Professor McGonagall staring down at her through her spectacles. The woman was always so intimidating, but Parvati didn't shrink away.

"Could you please tell me the five variables of the transformation formula?" Professor McGonagall asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Of course, Professor," Parvati answered. She felt nervous, but at the same time quite confident - she knew this answer, and now she knew how to express herself. "Bodyweight, viciousness, wand power, concentration, and sentience."

"Very good, Miss Patil," Professor McGonagall said, smiling slightly and looking impressed.

At last, Parvati had found her voice, and nothing was going to get in her way again.


End file.
